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Save It or Lose It - One Week Left!
Thank you to everyone who has donated so far. We've raised just over $31,800 and have one week. Help us reach our goal! Check out a great video on the Historic Restoration Program below.
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Fishing for Cats Contra Dance Is in Town: Saturday,
September 13th, 7pm
Sitka Fine Arts Camp is embarking on yet another exciting partnership which will provide an opportunity for Sitkans of all ages to dance together. Starting September 13 the Odess Theater will house monthly barn dances with live music provided by Fishing for Cats, Sitka's own fiddle band. Donations at the door will contribute to the ongoing construction costs for the building. Fishing for Cats is an open band which has been playing music for barn dances in
Sitka since 1993. Over the years scores of local musicians have played with the group and uncounted Sitkans have danced to their music. Many dancers who attended the barn dances as children and then danced with their friends as young adults are now parents bringing their own children to dances. We're looking forward to having the community meet in the beautiful Odess Theater for this fun arts activity.
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Young Performers Theater Presents East of the Sun and West of the Moon
We're proud to announce our 2nd production with the Young Performers Theater: East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Tina Howe. A majestic straight play adapted from the Norwegian folk tale tells the story of a young girl who journeys to the land East of the Sun and West of the Moon to rescue a great white bear from the curse of a wicked troll.
Auditions: 9/27, 10am-4pm in the Yaw Arts Center, Room 111
Callbacks: 9/28, 2pm-4pm in the Odess Theater in Allen Hall
Performances:
11/21 @ 7pm
11/22 & 23 @ 2pm
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After School Art Sign-Ups for Session 1
There is still time to sign up for this session of After School Art classes! Classes for this session are Beginning Guitar, Celtic Dance, Ceramics, Drawing For a Graphic Novel, and Photography Without a Camera. Visit our website here for more information about dates, times, and age ranges. For questions or to sign up, call the Fine Arts Camp Office at 907-747-3085.
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Greetings!
Fall is arriving here in Sitka, and alongside the summer, The Save It or Lose It campaign is coming to a close. The campaign has helped immensely in the near-completion of Phase One of the renovations on the historic Laundry Building and Power Plant. Your help is essential to completing this vital project.
There are new faces on the campus as the Sitka Service Fellows program has officially commenced, and SFAC's North Pacific Hall is now home to twelve recent college grads who are quickly becoming deeply invested in the community that Sitka offers.
The After School Program and The Young Performers Theater are soon to commence, and we are thrilled for the campus to maintain the buzzing creative energy built up over the summer. We are also excited to announce the start of monthly barn dances in Odess Theater this Saturday at 7PM. Read on to find out what's happening around campus in the coming weeks.
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Save It Or Lose It: The Laundry Building Transformed
One of the iconic structures on the SFAC campus, the Laundry Building, also called the Power Plant, has been the centerpiece of the Save It Or Lose It Campaign. Built in 1911 by New York's Ludlow and Peabody as a power station and laundry facility, the building had deteriorated significantly in the years prior to massive structural renovations, beginning July 15th, 2014.
Tens of thousands of donation dollars have been put to great use to help defray the costs of equipment, building materials, construction, and meals for volunteers. And now, the Save It Or Lose It campaign is coming to a close. With the near-completion of Phase One of the renovation, the building is now well on its way to being saved from rot and protected from the elements, with a reconstructed roof featuring durable asphalt shingles, and a repainted exterior rounding out the original goals of Phase One of the project. We have reached just over $31,800 of our $50,000 goal, and we need your help to finish essential structural repairs necessary because of extensive rot.
According to Construction Manager Pete Weiland, some of the problems that had to be addressed included pervasive rot in the support structures for the building, caused by the onslaught of pestilent moss and subsequent leaking from the exterior and roof. Weiland states, "for so many years, on rainy days, the building would be oozing wet on the inside. Now, it's bone dry and wonderful. ... In another year, it would have started caving in. It would have been condemned."
The progress on the building since mid-July has been marked and rapid, thanks, in large part, to those who have given funds through the Save It Or Lose It campaign, to the construction crews, paid and volunteer, who have committed their time to actualize the project. As mentioned before, the 15th of July saw the commencement of the lion's share of the work as Historic Restoration Interns from 10+ colleges around the nation began the volunteer effort to help bring the building to a new state of soundness.
Larry Jackson, Crew Leader for the Historic Restoration Team, describes some of the tasks associated with the project:
The major steps included constructing perimeter scaffolding around the building, ripping off the roof layers, replacing rotting joists, valley materials, roof sheeting, and fascia/trim boards; hauling away debris; prepping new fascia, and installing a new asphalt shingle roof. Also, work began on exterior wall repairs: scraping paint, replacing cedar shingle siding, repairing/replacing trim and other wall components, and repainting the building exterior. Almost all of the work was outside. The dirty, dusty, demanding labor continued rain or shine.
Plans for the space in the future include turning the main floor of The Laundry into an art gallery café, a place to highlight student and faculty artwork. The Laundry's attic will soon become an ideal venue for passionate musicians through classes like Rock Band, and the basement an area for a metal workshop.
With your support, the building is soon to become a crucial part of the SFAC campus. To learn more about the volunteer work in this Historic Restoration project, click here to read the full report. To contribute to this important campaign, please use the donation button on the left.
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New Faces on the Campus
The Sitka Service Fellows program began September 1st, bringing twelve recent college graduates to Sitka. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who developed the program with SFAC Executive Director Roger Schmidt has this to say about the fellowship:
The program creates a great experience for young people looking to love a place with a strong sense of community and strong connection to the natural world. The program is great for Sitka because it brings 12 young, driven, and altogether positive people, adding even more dynamism to our community. The program is really exciting for the camp and the campus because it's the first program to run through the winter -- and surely the first of many more yet to come.
The fellows will be living in North Pacific Hall on the SFAC campus, and serving through May with non-profits around Sitka such as SFAC, Sitka Community Hospital, The Island Institute, The Sitka Conservation Society, The Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association, The Sitka Tribe, and Hames Center.
Four Sitka Service Fellows and a member of Americorps are joining the SFAC staff for the academic year. Introductions will follow this week and the next.
Monica Ague
...hails from Branford, Connecticut, and has this to say about her role this year:
I'm an Americorps volunteer at both the Sitka Fine Arts Camp and the Performing Arts Center (PAC). Here at camp, I serve as the Artist Series coordinator. I'll be taking care of the logistics, hospitality, and marketing for the fantastic acts that will be performing under our Artist Series umbrella this upcoming winter and spring. At the PAC, I serve as manager, covering booking and front of house needs for any and everything that goes on there. I fell in love with Sitka last summer, when I came up for the first time to work as a member of the logistics team. I came back this May for a second summer working at camp, and didn't want to leave. Thankfully, I was given a fantastic opportunity to serve the community and the camp while living here year-round! I couldn't be more psyched to do my small part in helping the camp achieve its goals throughout the year-and see the campus covered in snow.
Zeke Blackwell
...comes to Sitka from Fort Worth, Texas:
I will be serving as the Young Performers Theater Director, organizing and directing three youth productions this year: a play in November, a musical in late February, and a Shakespeare play in the spring. Additionally, I'm looking to cultivate an improv comedy group, playwriting workshops, stage design workshops, and provide as many performance opportunities as possible to young people.
Regarding what draws him to Sitka, he states the following:
Everything I've heard about Sitka has emphasized one key value: community. To be in a place with such physical beauty, that also cares deeply about the people we interact with everyday seemed to be an opportunity I couldn't pass up. And my first 10 days have done nothing but confirm that this is a town that supports each other. It's going to be a good year.
And lastly, about goals for the fellowship, Zeke has this to say:
I'm hoping, or, rather, I know that working with the young people in this community will provide me perspective and insight into the real reasons why we crave art. And I'm really excited to work with such a successful organization to gain a greater understanding about how effective arts and community non-profits operate. And I've already gained a much greater appreciation for fish.
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Thank you for your ongoing support, Sitka Fine Arts Camp Staff www.fineartscamp.org 907-747-3085
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